The Homo heidelbergensis is thought by some scientists to be the originator of both Homo sapiens and Neanderthal species. What’s even more interesting is that there is evidence of multiple human species existing within the last 100,000 years. Thanks to the research of Chris Stringer, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, we can hypothesize that there were up to six different homo species in the last 100,000 years. 

This made me wonder, what would the world be like if Homo sapiens weren’t the only species that still existed? Would social barriers such as skin color still have a high impact on social status? Would the distinctive cranial, dental, upper, and lower body features be more important? Would certain species only play certain sports due to their builds? Would countries be naturally divided by species, or would we have places where all species resided? 

I think it would change the modern world in ways we wouldn’t suspect, but generally society would run similarly to how it does now. Since I don’t know what the distinctive features of the six species were, t. There’s no telling how much each of them could have varied in looks. What I do know is that they were similar enough to be defined in the “Homo” family. Using this logic, I think we would see species that closely resemble one another with a couple distinctive defining features. However, in sports I think we could ultimately see a higher skill cap due to the small differences in the six species. We could see variation in one species that has a tendency to jump extremely high due to how flexible they are, or there could be a species that could swim extremely fast due to slightly longer arms that allow them to glide through the water easier. If we look outside of sports, certain species might be encouraged to work a certain job because of a small difference in their hearing or how fast their eyes can track a moving object. 

So yes, this world would function similarly to today, but I think it would ultimately lead to a situation where only one species is still alive. My perception of human nature is defined by our number one trait: greed. I don’t think that all species would get along well, and as a result there would be constant tension between them. This is based on the idea that humans are willing to exploit others in order to maintain power for themselves. The idea that one species is exploited because of the way they look or function is not unrealistic because we see it in our everyday lives already. 

In a perfect world, the variation in the way that humans function and identify themselves in their communities would be incredibly  interesting. Just keep in mind, though, one day we could be extinct, and it will be the turtles and ants and maybe even the giraffes that will wonder what the world would have been like if the human species was still alive.